Stoddard, Dayton W.

Search the database

1878-1933 | City Clerk, Assessor, and Magistrate, City of Anchorage

Dayton W. Stoddard served as city clerk, assessor, and magistrate for the City of Anchorage from 1925 until his death in 1933. He became active in the pubic and community life during the 1920s and early 1930s and was identified with the life of the city for years. He first arrived in Anchorage with his family in 1919, after being discharged from the U.S. Army.

Dayton W. Stoddard was born in Hutchinson, Minnesota, on March 16, 1878, to George S. Stoddard and Sussie H. Stoddard. He spent his early childhood in Boon Lake, Minnesota. When Stoddard was five, he moved with his parents to Portland, Oregon. By 1900, when Stoddard was twenty-two, his father had died. He and his mother were living in Monmouth, Oregon, where he worked as a bank clerk.[1]

Stoddard married Esther Graham on November 20, 1913, in Vancouver, Washington.[2] They met in Portland, Oregon, where he was a lieutenant in the National Guard. She was born in Elgin, Iowa, on December 29, 1884, the daughter of C.G. Graham and Ida Watenpaugh. In Portland, he worked as a bookkeeper for the Eastern Manufacturers Company and other firms.[3] The couple had four daughters: Vivian (born in 1915); Fay (born in 1917); Dorothy (born in 1923); and Beth (born in 1924).

Stoddard was stationed at Fort Liscum near Valdez, in 1918, and Esther and their two daughters, Vivian and Fay, joined him there the following year. He and his family next lived at Seward, where he was stationed for a short time. During World War I, he served as a second lieutenant in Company B, 30^th Battalion, U.S. Guards.[4] The U.S. Guards were a formation of the U.S. Army, and created to guard strategic installations and areas in order to free infantry regiments for overseas duty in Europe. In 1919, he was honorably discharged in Anchorage from the U.S. Guards.[5]

In Anchorage, Stoddard was employed by the Alaskan Engineering Commission (AEC), the temporary federal agency in charge of construction of the Alaska Railroad, for a short period of time. He operated an ice cream parlor from 1921 to 1923. In 1925, he accepted the position as city clerk, magistrate, and assessor for the City of Anchorage and worked in this capacity until his death in 1933. He also served a term as U.S. postmaster of Anchorage, from March 16, 1922 to January 3, 1924, when he was replaced by Henry S. Sogn.[6]

Stoddard was prominent in social and public life in Anchorage. He was a member of the Jack Henry Post No. 1 of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was Chef de Gar of the Forty-and Eight, and a member of the Masonic order.[7]

On November 22, 1933, Dayton W. Stoddard died suddenly and unexpectedly in Anchorage. He is buried in the American Legion Tract of Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery.[8]

Esther Stoddard was an experienced telephone operator and was employed by the City of Anchorage until her retirement in 1956. She moved to Oregon that same year and lived there for the remainder of her life. She died in May 197l, and is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Seattle, Washington.[9] She was survived by four daughters: Vivian Stoddard Laurie; Fay Mildred Stoddard Eskilson; Dorothy June Stoddard Walling; and Beth Marie Stoddard Allen; and ten grandchildren.

Click an image to see more

Dayton Stoddard in front of Anchorage City Hall, where he held the job of city clerk from 1925 to 1933.

The Stoddards' final Anchorage home, at 537 L Street, ca. 1935.

The Stoddard home at 8th Avenue and H Street, Anchorage, ca. 1925.

Dayton Stoddard with daughters Vivian and Fay, 1919.